The Optimists: The Story of the Survival of the Bulgarian Jews, explores how different ethnic and religious groups stood by each other in Bulgaria even during the Holocaust. Bulgaria’s experience offers valuable insight into how people can build bridges between different communities of different ethnic and religious backgrounds and, in so doing, defend human and civil rights. It is not only a Jewish story. It is a universal one, powerful in its ability to inform and inspire all audiences. Completed in 2001, the film was the winner of the Jewish Experience Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival 2000 and won the Peace Prize in the Berlinale 2001.